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Last night my 10 month old woke up at 2am and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4am. He sat on my bed cooing, clapping, and climbing on me and my husband while we did our best to try and get him to lie down and sleep. No amount of coaxing would work. This child was more resilient than either of us, and as such I am absolutely devastated today and not quite capable of thinking a complete sentence. I wander off somewhere mid-way while my eyes get misty looking off into the distance. My eyes look bruised and my skin looks pale. To make things even more perfect today is my husband's birthday and we planned to go out on a date. Something we rarely do with 2 small boys at home and 2 day cares to pay for. Yesterday I played catch-up on my articles and got really lucky. The mafia was busted in Queens County New York by the District Attorneys office for running an illegal internet sports book and that gave me fodder for three articles. Even more exciting, I think I was the first online gambling portal to break the story. Of course, three articles means that I've bled the subject dry, so I need to find something else to write about. Sure enough, it seems my luck is changing for my almost last week of work. Reuters is trying to get all of us into a state of denial by running a story saying that the new leadership in Congress is pro-online gambling. According to the article, "Last week's U.S. election shake-up will put pro-casino politicians in key leadership positions as the American Gaming Association mulls a push to study legalization of Internet gambling, the head of the trade group said on Tuesday." The American Gaming Association (AGA) has always been Switzerland on the online gambling issue. The most they have ever said regarding the issue was a request for a study, which is hardly taking a pro stance. This fact was ignored by Reuters and they continued. They did mention that the AGA was going to decide in December whether to keep trying to get a study done regarding online gambling. What do you want to bet that with the current climate regarding internet gambling they simply let this one slide? "I think the change on balance is positive," said Frank Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive of the gambling association and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Fahrenkopf said that a big challenge of the trade group has been educating legislators about the industry, and "the new leadership is familiar with our industry." The moderate Nevada Democrat, Senator Harry Reid, was former casino regulator. He was elected by colleagues on Tuesday as U.S. Senate majority leader for the 110th Congress that will convene in January. "He probably knows our industry better than anyone," Fahrenkopf said. While that is most likely true, there isn't a Congress person in Nevada that isn't pro-gambling in all ways, shapes, and forms. This is Nevada we are talking about here. The new Republican leader in the Senate is expected to be Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a "gambling state" in Fahrenkopf's words. In the House, there will be "dramatic changes in committee chairmanships," Fahrenkopf said. Rep. Charles Rangel, the New York Democrat expected to chair the Ways and Means Committee, has been to Las Vegas to tour the inner workings of casinos "many, many times," according to the head of the gaming association. Fahrenkopf hopes that as Rep. John Conyers, is from Detroit he will help the industry because he's seen "how casinos can benefit the economy". Conyers is expected to head the Judiciary Committee. Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, is my favorite new comer to Congress. He is expected to chair the Financial Services Committee and according to Fahrenkopf he has a libertarian approach to gambling. As such he does not believe that the U.S. should be telling people how to spend their money. "We think it might be time to see if there is a way to regulate and control online gaming," Fahrenkopf said. Fahrenkopf believes that the arrests of internet gambling executives and the new anti-online gambling legislation may not help as it was intended. "The goal was to protect U.S. consumers, but I think the impact has been the exact opposite. The responsible companies have pulled out, only leaving about 2,000 fly-by-night Web sites," Fahrenkopf said. Let's say that the climate has changed. Does that really matter? The law has been signed and has gone into affect. All that is left is the details being ironed out. They aren't going to retract the law or make it unconstitutional even if it wasn't actually connected in any way to the bill it was attached to (the Safe Port Bill for those who don't know, and if you are wondering what internet gambling has to do with safe ports you would not be alone.) The anti-online gambling people won. I for one am ok to slump my shoulders and go walking off into the distance in defeat. Walking towards a nice cozy bed, a bed without 10 month old teething babies in them who don't want to sleep. A bed where I won't be woken up at 6:30am, where I can sleep in on cold days under a deep down comforter. Teething babies, the horror the horror. Posted on: November 17, 2006
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